


the gleam in her eyes

by soundsandsweetairs



Category: Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Genre: F/F, Femslash, Kisses have power, Manipulation, Retelling, Riffing on true love's kiss & the spindle, Some handwaving re: the timeline of Aurora's birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:22:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27718129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soundsandsweetairs/pseuds/soundsandsweetairs
Summary: There was something dark in the forest.
Relationships: Aurora/Maleficent (Disney)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 76





	the gleam in her eyes

There was something dark in the forest. 

Merryweather had cautioned her to stay near the cottage many times, worry plain in her eyes. Aurora had seen it sometimes, in the way the shadows clustered under the trees, or the way a raven took flight into the bright morning air. Her curiosity was greater than her fear. How could the forest, her home, hold anything that might harm her?

The man was a surprise, when he stepped out from behind a tree into her arms. Was he what her aunts had so fervently warned her against?

Their voices rang sweetly together as he courted her. His kiss rested dully on the back of her hand. No, there was nothing dark about him. He was an open book, kind and earnest. 

A shadow, flickering just out of sight over Phillip’s shoulder, made her stumble out of time with the waltz.

“Is something wrong?” He was so solicitous and caring. 

She rubbed at the slight ache in her forehead. “No, nothing.” He seemed happy to take her offered smile and twirl her back into their dance. 

Aurora walked home slowly that afternoon. Phillip was like a dream come true, honest and brave and gentle. So why did she catch herself peering into corners and hoping for something more? Wasn’t he all she wanted?

She was so caught up in her head that she almost walked into the stranger standing in the center of a clearing. It was a woman, tall and thin, wearing a dark robe and an ornate headdress. The shadows seemed to pool around her feet. Aurora was frozen in surprise. 

“Who are you?”

“My name is Maleficent.” The woman had a low, appealing voice. 

Aurora looked around. “Are you… lost? I don’t see many people out here in the forest.”

Maleficent raised one thin eyebrow. “Oh, no, I’m not lost. Just — going for a stroll.” She threw out the explanation lightly.

“Oh. Alright, then.” She felt wrong-footed. The woman had a fascinating air about her, and Aurora didn’t want to just leave her here.

Maleficent smiled at her. “And who are you, my dear?”

“Oh, my name is — Briar Rose.” She nearly forgot to give her false name. The air seemed to hum with something odd, and it was distracting. “I’m not really supposed to speak with strangers.”

“Come now, child. I won’t harm you.”

They fell into step with each other. Aurora barely noticed that they were no longer walking toward the cottage. Maleficent gestured with her graceful, long-fingered hands as they conversed. Cool green light flickered on her fingertips. Aurora gasped.

“You can do magic?”

Maleficent hummed. A rock on the ground transformed into a lizard with a flash of light. Aurora crouched down to get a closer look, and it slithered off into the grass, a flurry of green. 

“The people in the city call me a sorceress.” Aurora looked up at Maleficent in surprise. “They call my gift evil.” Her eyes were heavy on Aurora’s face.

“I think it’s wonderful. I’ve never seen anything like it.” That wasn’t precisely true — she had noticed the occasional strange happening at the cottage, but her aunts had always waved off her questions.

“Well. Thank you, my dear. Come see me again tomorrow, hm?”

Aurora blinked at the dismissal. She felt a little lightheaded, as if waking from a trance. “Of course.”

Maleficent’s lips curled in a smile. They were a vivid red slash across her face. 

Aurora stumbled home. It had grown dark while she had been with Maleficent, and the underbrush caught at her skirts as she made her way through the trees.

She picked at her supper, waving off her aunts’ concerns for her health. Her skin felt tight across her shoulders, and there was a restlessness in her body that was foreign to her. That night, she tossed and turned in her bed. Her dreams were full of the same darkness that had come to the forest. Strange things slithered in the shadows, teasing and grasping.

Aurora woke up aching. The moon shone bright through her window and left puddles of light across her bed. She pressed her hand to her lips. This was nothing like the chaste, safe dreams she’d had of Phillip before she’d met him. This was fire, blood, wanting. She stumbled out of bed, aware of her body in a way she hadn’t been before. 

She draped her shawl around herself and crept outside, barefoot. The air was cool through the thin fabric of her nightdress. The nocturnal sounds of the forest were calming around her. She took a deep breath, thankful for the familiarity of the plants and animals.

Aurora hurried back to the clearing where she’d met Maleficent, but she was nowhere to be found. She chewed her lip as she peered into the darkness around her. What was she doing out here? She should be back in her bed, warm and safe. The shadows under the trees had grown very deep.

“Back already?” The voice came from behind her. Aurora gasped and spun.

Maleficent’s eyes seemed to glow yellow in the night. Aurora felt her pulse racing. “Oh, it’s you!”

Maleficent cocked her head. “It’s dangerous out here, after dark. Why have you come?”

“I — I don’t know.” Aurora felt like a shy child. The look in Maleficent’s eyes gave her a sense of inevitability, like blood bubbling inexorably to the skin of a pricked finger. She took a step toward her. Maleficent held out a hand and drew her in.

Her red, red lips were soft against Aurora’s. Maleficent traced her fingers down Aurora’s neck, her long nails scratching gently. Aurora felt a prickling pain on her lower lip. _Did she bite me?_ Her blood pulsed through her, and she swooned into Maleficent’s arms.

“What’s happening?” Aurora could barely keep her eyes open. Maleficent’s smirk was the last thing she saw as the world faded out to darkness.

——

The morning dawned bright and promising: the day that Aurora was to return to the castle and to her birthright. The fairies waited and waited for her to come down to breakfast.

“It’s not like her to sleep in so late,” Flora worried.

Fauna nodded. “Perhaps we should go up and check on her.”

Aurora’s bed was empty, the blankets tangled and thrown to the floor. The fairies wept. Had something happened to Aurora, out there among the shadows, beyond the safe walls of their little home?

A raven’s foreboding caw echoed through the trees. Somewhere in the forest, the princess slept.


End file.
